Sunday, April 7, 2013

Peace Be With You

John 20:19-31

April 7, 2013

The
late humorist Erma Bombeck wrote about life in the suburbs, life for the
housewife, and life with children.She
was a favorite of mine from the time I was a young girl.

In
one of her books she wrote about her youngest son who would believe any wild,
fantastic story his friends would tell him.But he regarded what she would tell him with suspicion.One day he came into the kitchen where she
was working and asked her what day it was.

“It’s
Tuesday,” she answered.He continued to
look at her quizzically.So Erma
continued.“Tomorrow is Wednesday.The day after that is Thursday.And the day after that is Friday.”

Her
son stared at her for another moment then said, “Are you sure?”

In
the traditional interpretation of this post-resurrection story from John,
Thomas – aka, Doubting Thomas – wasn’t sure.He probably should have believed the disciples as well.But he wanted to see for himself.

“Unless
I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my fingers in the mark of the
nails and my hand on his side, I will not believe.”

Thomas
was absent when Jesus made his appearance to the disciples.They were gathered together behind locked
doors, out of fear, when suddenly Jesus was there, standing among them.

The
first words he spoke to them was a greeting of peace.“Peace be with you.”Then Jesus showed the disciples his hands and
his side.And they rejoiced at seeing
the Lord.Then again Jesus greets them
with his words of peace, and he proceeds to commission them for ministry.

“As
my father has sent me, so I send you.”As he says this, he breathes on them, covering them with the Holy
Spirit.He also gives them authority to
forgive or retain sins.They are
commissioned and empowered to spread the word.

But
Thomas was not there to witness this dramatic event.Thomas the Twin, or Doubting Thomas.

Doubting
Thomas – this name probably sums up the way most of us have heard this story
over the years.When I was a child, the
last thing any of us wanted to be told in our Sunday School classes was that we
were acting or sounding like a Doubting Thomas.Thomas doubted.He was skeptical
and demanded tangible, physical proof that Jesus was really resurrected before
he would believe it.Doubting Thomas was
not a flattering nickname to be given.

But
what about the others?Jesus also
appeared to them and showed them his hands and his side.Mary Magdalene announced to them, quite
forcefully, that she had seen the Lord.But the disciples didn’t trust her word anymore than Thomas trusted
theirs.The disciples were staying in a
locked room for fear of the Jews.The
Jews in this context are the powers and the authorities that conspired to put
Jesus to death.

The
sudden presence of Jesus among them surely must have shocked and frightened
them.Mary Magdalene’s report of seeing
the Lord, speaking with the Lord, and even trying to embrace him had not
lessened the disciples’ fear at his crucifixion.It had not lessened their lack of belief.

It
is only when Jesus appears to them
and shows his hands and his side that they believe and rejoice. They too needed
proof that Jesus was really alive.Just
like Thomas.

But
Thomas put into words what he required for faith.As one commentator said, he set out the
conditions for his faith.He needed to
see the marks of the nails on Jesus’ hands.He needed to touch them and to touch the place where the sword pierced
Jesus’ side.

So
a week later Jesus comes again to the disciples, to Thomas.He gives Thomas what he asked for.He gives Thomas permission to go ahead, touch
him, place his hands on the marks left by the nails, touch him.See firsthand the proof of the
resurrection.Thomas says, “show
me.”And Jesus says, “here I am.”Jesus offers himself completely to Thomas.

And
it is here that the misconceptions about Thomas happen.Thomas is the cynical, skeptical
doubter.But this text is not so much
about doubt as it is about faith.Most of the translations of the Bible we
have at our disposal, including the NRSV, the one I use, translate Jesus as
saying, “doubt.”Do not doubt.But the Greek word for doubt is not used in
this story at all.The more literal
translation for the verb apistos is
“unbelieving.”Jesus tells Thomas, “Do
not be unbelieving, but believing.”

Do
not be unbelieving, but believing.

Now
maybe to make a distinction between doubt and unbelieving is like talking about
two sides of the same coin, but making that distinction takes us in very
different directions.

Do
not be unbelieving, but believing.Go
from being without faith to having faith.Not having faith isn’t the same as being cynical about faith, is
it?It’s not quite the same thing as
doubt.

Jesus
offered to Thomas exactly what he asked for.He told him to touch the marks of the nails on his hands and to put his
hand on Jesus side.Jesus offered
himself as motivation, as a sign for Thomas to believe, to have faith, to go
from unbelieving to believing.

The
text doesn’t say specifically that Thomas took Jesus up on his offer, but we do
know that when Jesus offers himself as proof and motivation for faith, Thomas
utters one of the most profound confessions of faith in the gospel.“My Lord and my God.”Thomas is not exclaiming here.He is confessing.He is confessing his faith.My Lord and my God.

When
we examine the interaction between Jesus and Thomas in this light, then the
next words of Jesus sound different as well.“Have you believed because you have seen me?Blessed are those who have not seen me and
yet have come to believe.”

Is
Jesus trying to shame or scold Thomas?That’s what many of us have been told to believe.Or was Jesus confirming what had just
happened?And in his confirmation, he
opened the door to faith for generations of believers yet to come.This is one of those moments in the
scriptural witness when we are able to see ourselves firmly in the story.It’s as if Jesus isn’t just speaking to the
disciples in the immediate vicinity around him, he’s speaking to us.

I
don’t believe that Jesus was scolding Thomas for wanting to see Jesus with his
own two eyes, for wanting proof of the resurrection. Instead Jesus offered hope to Thomas, to a
world of others, and to all of us through him.

What this passage
promises all of us is that our faith is not disadvantaged because we were not
firsthand witnesses to Jesus and his ministry, his life, his death and his
resurrection.“Blessed are those who
have not seen and yet have come to believe.”The peace that Jesus gives to the disciples when he first appears to
them is our peace as well.

Still
it would be nice to have a sign, wouldn’t it?

I think it’s
interesting that Thomas doesn’t just want to see the risen Christ himself.He wants to see his wounds. He doesn’t
request a glowing, ethereal being to appear before him.He wants to see the mark of the nails.He wants to touch his wounds, and Jesus encourages
him to do just that.He willingly shows
Thomas where he is wounded so that Thomas will believe.What would happen if we did the same?What would happen if we showed each other our
vulnerabilities, our pain, the places where we’ve been hurt, the scars that we
bear?

What would happen
if we shared the broken places in our lives?I’m not advocating that church be a place of self-obsessed group therapy
or maudlin self-revelation.I just
realize that more often than not it is in my wounded places, my broken places
where I recognize Jesus’ presence in my life.When I acknowledge the ways that I am wounded and someone else says, “me
too,” that is the sign I most need that Jesus really is risen.It is at those moments where I most clearly
see Christ in that person and they in me.I don’t recognize the risen One in the perfect, I recognize him in the
wounded.

I just wonder if
maybe others need that same sign as well.I found a quote this week that said, “The church is not a museum for
good people, but a hospital for the broken.” Maybe other people beyond these
doors need to know that this is indeed a hospital; that those in the church are
as broken as they are.Maybe others would
be more willing to walk through these doors if they know that they are not the
only ones who are wounded.Maybe the
sign of resurrection that we look for is in our wounds, in our broken places,
and in our trust that we all will be healed.Peace be with you.Let all God’s
children say, “Amen.”